Suzuki Philippines is set to open 2022 with two new offerings—and they’ll both come in hatch configuration.
The big news is that Suzuki, country’s pioneer compact car distributor, is unveiling the all-new Celerio by March earliest. The Celerio will have the 3D Organic Sculpted Design, which offers smoother rounded corners when compared to the outgoing models’ angular looks. At the front, it gets a studded grille with sharp chrome accents with a Suzuki logo cutting across. There are oval-shaped headlamps as well as a sportier bumper with black trim.
Along the sides, Suzuki made the wheel arches more defined and is complemented by black alloy wheels. At the rear, there’s a larger pair of droplet-styled taillights and a redesigned tailgate. The third-generation, all-new Celerio seemed renewed from every angle.
Size-wise, the all new Celerio is now bigger as it measures 3.695 meters long, 1.655 m wide, and 1.555m tall. This makes the new subcompact hatchback 95mm longer, 55mm wider, and 15mm taller that the outgoing model. The wheelbase has also been stretched by 10mm to 2.435 m, which means it should provide better headroom, elbow room and rear passenger legroom.
The all-new Celerio also has a 170 mm ground clearance, which is 5 mm more than the outgoing model. Suzuki has completely revamped the interior of one of its best-sellers in recent years and it gets a lot more features than the outgoing model including a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, an engine push start/stop button with a smart key, steering-mounted audio controls, analogue instrument cluster with MID, etc.
Powering the all-new Celerio is a new-generation K10C 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that makes 66 hp with 89 Nm of torque. This engine benefits from Dualjet technology for better thermal efficiency and dual fuel injectors. It also comes with Segment 1st Idle Start Stop technology that provides spirited performance in city and highway while delivering the segment best mileage of 26.68 km/l.
Transmission options for the 2022 Celerio include a standard five-speed manual and a five-speed automated manual transmission that Suzuki calls Auto Gear Shift (the same one that the Dzire subcompact sedan is equipped with). The price of the current Celerio is P628,000 for the CVT-1.0L variant, so expect the all-new one to have a price tag close to this figure.
Meanwhile, coming much sooner is a refreshed Swift, Suzuki’s sporty compact hatch.
Like the all-new Celerio, it features a softer overall profile and has a honeycomb grille design that has sharp chrome accents intersecting the middle. The headlights are new, with the higher-spec variant featuring LED headlights as standard. It still features pillar-mounted rear door handles that create a sleeker silhouette and its two-tone color schemes make the Swift more athletic and modern. Inside, the refreshed Swift is smarter than ever. The popular, sporty D-shaped steering wheel is still there as well as stylish multi-information LCD and meter cluster, 8-inch display which supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (higher variants only).
Other features such as automatic climate control, push to start, and keyless entry are now standard across the range. This refreshed Swift should excite a special set of buyers considering this same model has a hybrid variant (already available in other markets) that offers an amazing fuel efficiency and low emissions.
